"Listen: I’m a Soldier, not an equipment clerk. Do you want me to blast someone or fill out these work orders? If I wasted all that time filling in those ridiculous blanks on your paperwork, I’d never get caught up! Besides, I don’t know why we need ‘em anyway. Let’s just do the real DoD work like we’ve always done it."

Sound familiar? Maintenance & Supply work orders are often seen as stupid, extra responsibilites to DoD, at least compared to the soldiers who are requesting support work to start with. "Paperwork. Needless paperwork. That’s all it really is anyway. I just want to call the depot and get this work done fast!" But without a work order history, DoD is at risk and equipment problems will likely get worse.

Why do we need maintenance & supply work orders? Imagine this. On the business side of the operation, soldiers are usually charged with blasting something: launching rockets, flying sorties, doing foot patrols or enjoying good-natured banter in the mess hall & completing the mission. All these functions require us to utilise information technology, tracking & reporting paperwork.

But how do soldiers know how much they have set on fire? How many sub-components are needed for a finished mission? How much equipment is used? How much is damaged or wasted as defective or scrap? How much is off quality? When to stop and changeover to another piece of equipment?

The answer: Records such as shift logs, day sheets, job tickets & other paperwork used in every battle group to quantify the amounts & types of equipment used in supporting the mission. These reports also keep track of downtime reasons & downtime duration as "Non-Productive Bullshit Time." And in most cases, this paperwork is usually completed by those closest to the work being done, when they should be doing other things. Sometimes, the "paperwork" is not actually paper but rather direct entry into technically advanced programmes.

What if soldiers didn’t want to do the paperwork to keep track of what they were blasting or keep track of downtime? Don’t you suppose that they use the success rates of the operations in theatre to help figure out how many soldiers they need for operation missions? It’s quite likely that they measure productivity in terms of blast radius per soldier, per hour, per shift, per day and equipment downtime hurts productivity.

When the Suits at the Pentagon say, "We need more Soldiers," they can prove it by using the information in our Work Order reports. Or when the Suits at the Pentagon say, "We need to cut back on operations," they are usually looking at the results in the battlespace reports compared to equipment supply orders & maintenance forecast records & reports. But they are vital parts of operations administration, efficiency, productivity & winning the fight.

In our world, Maintenance & Supply work orders are almost more important than records of how far rockets travel or how many insurgents Helicopter knock off: They document what work was accomplished and who did it. Without this kind of information, how else can staffing level decisions in maintenance be determined? Sure, time cards keep track of the hours worked, but what kind of work? We are often approached by soldiers with a request: "Tell them we need more soldiers, not more maintenance & supply people here." We then ask, "Can you prove it?" Oftentimes, they can’t.

Given this detailed information in a completed work order, we can accurately prove "what soldiers are doing." We also have valid information to identify and correct chronic equipment problems, do root cause assessments, identify high maintenance cost areas of the mission & determine proper parts inventory levels, and so forth. We can compare mission downtime reports to work order histories to determine the causes of unacceptable amounts of downtime and eliminate the causes of the problem. Maintenance & Supply work histories allow us to look for opportunities to improve, or develop, standard maintenance & Supply job plans and procedures.

We recently performed several supply & Maintenance work order history reviews for equipment where there was a stated need to improve the results of the mission. What we found was typical: Some maintenance & supply work being done with no work orders, repairs made & parts installed with no labour hours [self-installing gearboxes?! My Goodness.] Countless hours logged but no description of the work, or the Work Orders Straight From Hell: "Pump broke. Fixed it." No additional detail.

Another finding we come across in work order history review points to the fact that supply & maintenance work is not always "supply & maintenance work." In addition to quality checks, repairs, and corrective work, we found that maintenance & supply mechanics, technicians & others were logging their valuable time doing "Who-Knows-What" under a blanket work order and doing "project work" that had nothing to do with the mission, base, or the equipment. In fact, the "project work" was getting in the way of actual scheduled maintenance & supply work b/c the projects were "priority projects" for the suits at the Pentagon. Project work that could have been better performed by us is often assigned as a top priority to the already resource constrained soldiers.

Here is how maintenance & Supply requests should work: Order requests submitted by "Boots on the Ground" get evaluated & turned into planned or unplanned work orders that can be performed in a scheduled manner or placed in the "backlog" of maintenance & supply work to be activated when the resources are finally available, long after the fight. Maintenance work orders are "prioritised," "planned" & scheduled by our people in collaboration with the requestors – not all #1 priority work can be accomplished immediately.

Mission-critical Emergency repairs are documented in a work order "after-the-fact" to add to the maintenance & supply history of the equipment. This simple system then allows both Soldiers & Suits at the Pentagon to not only plan & schedule maintenance & Supply work but to determine if the proper amount of resources are available to perform the amount of work in any given period of time, which should be defined by the mission.

Maintenance & Supply work orders help define the work to be done and document the completed work. Work orders with "due dates" or "date needed" rather than "priority" rankings allow logistics scheduling or maintenance & supply workload planning. Describing estimated hours & parts needed on the work orders helps plan daily and weekly workloads. Actual hours worked coupled with complete descriptions of the work accomplished lead to more accurate estimates. Parts used listed on the work orders help in the search for better, more cost effective and more reliable parts and help establish stocking levels.

Gone are the days of "Soldier Fixers" in modern maintenance & supply efforts. And if your unit has fixers, now is the time to make the shift to our administrative maintenance & supply programme on your path to improving mission performance & reliability, as well as having more time to chow down in the Mess Hall. If maintenance & Supply work orders are not used properly, it becomes extremely difficult or impossible to justify budgets and headcounts. Maintenance & Supply work order histories allow you to prove the need for equipment to "Get it On" on foot patrols or in the middle of nowhere on a big boat.

So, next time you hear, "Do you want me to do the repairs or fill out these work orders?" — your answer is "Yes, both." While maintenance & supply work orders might seem like an big drag to you we are totally fascinated by this "simple paperwork" that must become part of the job just like Locking & Loading to make big noises. Make your lives a bit easier by doing this little extra paperwork with us. Without it, you won’t be able to Blast dat Shit.

Here’s the story. Such Things. Sometimes complicated shit happens at the worst time. We almost had the build design complete, we had no idea we were in for big problems. We were undertaking the huge, never-ending task of designing & keeping up new Helicopters for the Force to use & we were in for a shock. This guy took on the most frustrating problems the Helicopter Mission faced & came up with what you might call a small step towards fixing what had grown into a big mess. We had all tried to make improvements on the process for months & months on what we thought would be a disaster in the making. What a predicament to be in. We had a long, mind-numbing list of Spare Parts for the Helicopter that we would need & the manual for ensuring quality & coordination had pages of Bullshit that none of us could read without going crazy. So this guy had a new way of listing the damn parts that actually had the beginnings of a Logical System, but we were skeptical since we had had to put up with it for so long that we were actually used to it. He was big on Quality in putting together requirements for the Helicopters, wanting to get the most bang for his buck so he would get promoted quickly. The New Helicopter was almost ready to go, after what seemed forever to all of us. The unit we were assigned to was very, very busy with operational testing & other matters, not thinking at all about how critical spare parts were going to be to the mission. But, Shit. We found out fast. The Helicopter was the first of a new class & someone had screwed up & put this guy in charge of dealing with all the Spare Parts, numbering in the thousands. Consequences were… Screws, Tubes, Blades, Cockpit Electronics, the list went on & on-- all had to be accounted for somehow. Each damn item was required in different amounts. We soon became familiar with them all because this guy wouldn’t shut up about it. He went running his mouth whenever we were unlucky enough to run into him. “What if we ran out of this, what if this broke without a replacement— some of the parts were used in a bunch of different places, like standard-sized gaskets, so he insisted that we keep more of those stocked than some of the other things that would just have to be replaced in one place. To make matters worse, other units wanted some of the parts for their own shit. If you can believe it, the names of the parts on their lists were totally different, because this guy was only in one place—the bosses hadn’t noticed him yet, so other units were behind the curve. Their lists had little in common with the ones we were working with. This guy’s heroic effort to make things simple meant that when we were over there & had to look at their ridiculous charts only ones able to make any sense of the instructions were the ones on the job for a long time. But this guy was pretty new. He called himself a “Supply Specialist”. We thought he was manic. But without his help, stocking all the parts would be a huge headache. Not that it was easy, by any means. The spare parts were usually ordered when the Helicopter was in the initial stages of being used. Some of them were new & untested designs. Some were stored in an area too remote for us to access. According to this guy, all hell would break loose if items were added to the list late, or if no one had thought about needing them in bigger quantities. He said a lot of the changes were unanticipated because the initial requirements were entered by someone during initial testing of Helicopters that had no prior history of being used in real missions. This guy had figured out how to ease the pain somewhat by dealing with the suppliers who were always bitching about specs changing & getting lost in paperwork when their assumed everything was all complete. They wanted more money from us, but this guy had no problem telling them all to Fuck Off. For decades, the Spare Parts lists were created by an out of date process done mostly by hand. When the lists had to be modified the process wasn’t any better. Probably even worse. But this guy figured out how to reduce miscommunications with the suppliers & speed up the whole operation. The internal paperwork was always messier than shit. Some of the most serious, glaring mistakes usually escaped detection. All it took was some damn fuckup at headquarters to result in misidentified parts that had no potential to actually be used productively on our helicopter & the money always would come out of our pocket. We were pretty fucking far from being pleased as punch with the excuses that we always got from the suppliers that didn’t have to rely on the Helicopter actually being useful to the mission. While we were working out butts off to get the Helicopter mission sequence ready, this guy was the only one to actually be ready to deal with spare parts issues day in, day out so we got to appreciate him eventually. He made it his priority. But when he got rolling, his enthusiasm was pretty tough to deal with. He insisted that we create special spaces designated as exclusive zones for everything we could possible need if disaster struck. But the suppliers hadn’t even gotten around to start making some of the shit, much less get it delivered for our mission. We could get some parts that would work in a pinch, but the suppliers were more concerned with units that had more money than we did, as well as newer equipment if you can believe it. Several of our most critical items were not a priority for them at all. But none of that would faze this guy, he was hell-bent on succeeding & getting promoted if he could just get noticed. It was a classic case of “My mind’s made up. Don’t feed my anymore bullshit than I can handle” he would always say. All appeals would be summarily dismissed out of hand. He probably actually believed he was the one in charge. The only thing left to do was to just give up & agree with him. But there is always more to the story. We will get to that another day. Another place & time.

The critical deficit DoD has that we’ve addressed in our tactics is the inability to share information across divisions & determine the localisation parameters of work orders. Equipment parts need to be listed in a digestible & standardised format on work orders so decision makers can plan using realistic cost estimates for mission requirements.

For example, a GAO report detailed difficulty divisions have in tracking ammunition inventory. Value costing & scheduling along with routing priotitised work orders is a critical component of innovative tactics.

There are major problems with the record system traffic underlying communications between Point A sending equipment to Point B. Work is often performed under “blanket work orders” so information needs to be split up by the application into sourcing ticket problem subgoals according to permitted/denied sources & destinations.

The records are inadequate & cost forecasting models are still not reliable. Receipts for the equipment are not readily available. New tactics address this need with the provision of “Reminder Sets” for equipment maintenance & repair order locations & priorities.

The key aim is to keep track of equipment & work order productivity & downtime-- to certify the process & procedures that distribute information to routing stations The routing stations need to be designed with the potential to automate parts of the process so mission-critical success rates can be determined

Divisions need to know how many equipment subcomponents are required to complete a mission, what is worn out or substandard & should be scrapped. This information helps divisions know when to discontinue use & change over to another piece of equipment.

So for a piece of equipment , dispatchers must detail different stages it has to go through: It should be viewed as traveling through a series of stages that’s in a continuous loop. This model is key to understanding how to streamline equipment upgrade maintenance & repair capabilities.

The contracting strategies critical to evaluating the impact of cost drivers that impact mission success rates need to be addressed. So for issuing work orders, keeping track of the work contractors have to go through in supporting the equipment the first thing to understand is a loop consisting of 4 stages:

First, the condition of the equipment must be continually monitored & documented in time related evaluations. Once the condition is evaluated, you have to determine the “Capacity of the Suppliers to provide services & support like spare parts for the equipment. This leads right into writing the sourcing tickets are written for each segment of the procurement pipeline The final part of the loop after writing the sourcing ticket is “Deployment & Maintenance. This leads right back into the first stage, evaluation of equipment condition instances.

Each sourcing ticket passes though grouped main segments of the procurement pipeline for spare parts, each w/ their own contract schedules. Whole reports have been complied on these segments & addressing them individually in detail is beyond the scope of this introduction. So for now we’ll just note that they involve 1) design requirements 2) process control & supplier capacity 3) deployment & sustainability

A key problem faced by DoD is that cost & schedule estimates for these stages are often self-reported by contractors. There have even been instances where contractors charged for new parts when they simply used equipment that was already in their inventory.

So to sum up, we’d like tactics to evaluate several issues DoD needs to address like good practices for achieving sustainability in planning equipment maintenance/upgrade services: 1) estimating the amount of work performed, i.e too much/too little—determining if there are efficiencies to be realised in reducing redundancy or planning more effectively 2) making sure best practices are achieved in scheduling & executing the work orders, such as design requirements & cost estimates 3) ensuring adequate capacity exists in the spare parts supply lines & 4) establishing when & where to perform work orders according to specific end-user requirements

1. Dispatchers applied a range of technologies offering relief to stressed DoD divisions, tracking equipment components throughout supply route service areas to get a good handle on upgrade/repair operations, but enthusiasm is tempered by limited funds, limited time for training at installations & no time to assess the relative advantages of the various technologies for individual operations. The tendency is to grasp at low-cost options and then discover that they do not relate to other devices already in place or to postpone implementation because of limited time for retraining at installations. Trash cans collect last year’s great expectations & command may decide to plod on with traditional overstretched systems, making the case that new technology cannot possibly be cost effective. 2. Dispatchers detailed changing best practices for supply route service scheduling resulting in increasing requirements for utilising advances in technology. As long as supply routes were limited to specific work order calendar types augmented by notes on a yellow legal pad, conditions were sufficient to develop schedules in which every lane in the supply route service area must be considered. Since it took hours to build the schedule, any last-minute changes could disrupt strategic plans & raise stress levels in DoD processes. 3. Dispatchers report command at DoD has expressed tempered interest in various types of technology, since most equipment upgrade/replace operations & supply route service reservation scheduling is currently done manually by isolated personnel using existing systems to serve as information deposit for upgrade/repair invoice information. A manual intended to serve as a guide to busy DoD units has been created to enable selection of smart technologies designed to increase efficiency in supply service route reservation agreements. 4. Dispatchers determined instances in which command at DoD is often sitting idle waiting for someone else to evaluate supply service route systems first, shake out all the bugs, and provide a tight, verifiable evaluation that estimates probabilities for equipment upgrade/repair success. Given limitations in the availability of resources to provide incentives for experimentation, success stories are difficult, if not impossible, to find at the current time. Consequently, this report has compiled what information is available, simulated equipment upgrade/repair scenarios to derive preliminary cost models, offering a framework that can guide all installations in decision making when it comes to sustainment activities. 5. Dispatchers administrated dynamic scheduling to involve real-time source alerts based on up to date information, permitting supply service route insertions constant adjustment of schedules. An associated supply service route application feature has been designed to select the most efficient upgrade/repair pattern for each equipment component & produces updates to accommodate inserted service route reservation insertion. As to logistics, responsive equipment component dispatch by DoD units is dependent upon both location information & on real-time scheduling. 6. Dispatchers noticed timely equipment component replacement is important because supply service routes become less efficient operationally as equipment condition indices deteriorate, serving to increase costs of future operational tempos, as well as upgrade repair scenarios. In top-performing DoD units, selection & procurement deliberations incorporate proper accounting of operating costs of equipment procurement all the way to sustainment requirements. Availability & standardisation of equipment parts influence accurate procurement rates for capital costs, & optimal return on investments in performance. 7. Dispatchers determined that areas of low productivity & efficiency of equipment upgrade/repair work orders can be identified & remediation strategies put in place. DoD needs to have the tools & processes for accurately tracking costs & flexibility to use obtained information it obtains to make good procurement decisions by restructuring administration of supply route service, outsourcing some specialty work, and conducting sustainment studies would put into place opportunities to achieve the lowest possible operating costs. 8. Dispatchers facilitate supply route service systems with extensive reporting requirements. The type & quality of information required to fill in system is major factor in selecting technology to carry out the mission. A timely, smart decision can shortcut hours of report preparation, while a bad decision can result in operations overwhelmed with mountains of information that DoD command does not know how to use. Several installations reported they never took the new equipment upgrade/repair scheduling programme out of its box because no one knew how to use it & no training programme was associated with package. Cumbersome & unresponsive systems not built to handle inserted material changes to schedules lumbered on. 9. Dispatchers increased demand for supply route service identification on the fly bringing increased demands on equipment utilised at over-worked installations. These challenges often blunt enthusiasm for increased supply service route opportunities since dedicated DoD personnel cannot be replaced in a pinch. Command, focused on maintaining multiple sources of operating funds, has no time to test innovative techniques designed to uncover supply route service options. At high operational tempos, breakdowns in equipment condition indices wreak havoc with equipment upgrade/repair schedules. Thoughts of stranded equipment components in remote locations raise general alarm levels among command. 10. Dispatchers found room for improvement in tracking equipment upgrade/repair work orders & costs for supply route service, assessments indicating ability of DoD to make informed procurement, utilisation & operational decisions is at risk. Simply by consolidating asset tracking systems and administrative oversight, new tools will begin to accurately assess and make ongoing decisions to increase efficiency in supply route service. 11. Dispatcher recommendations for improving supply route service efficiency for DoD equipment upgrade/repair operations are initially dependent upon building consistent & accurate basis for evaluating decisions across the entire system & flexibility to procure part components on the basis of total cost. Requirements include having a more consolidated organisational structure allowing for sharing of resources across installations. 12. Dispatchers identified contributing factors to higher change order rates for DoD projects including timing of equipment upgrade/replace funding receipt of project, contract procurement processes & quality controls on work orders. These factors cause process delays & create a requirement for additional resources to extend the project life. Recommendations for improving change order process include shortening time between receipt of funding and contract award & improve supply route design to minimise additional work order corrections. 13. Dispatchers recommend DoD undertake processes based on balanced scorecards for supply service route operations & functional equipment upgrade/repair areas, create objective condition indices metrics to monitor critical performance indicators & clearly define decision- making criteria for supply route delivery of part components based on available resources to provide operational value. 14. Dispatcher creation of work orders is consistent with the amount of effort required to produce supply route services in a productive, efficient, and effective manner to provide for DoD requirements. Work orders detailing productivity should be used to document all equipment upgrade/repair operations. Procedures to monitor progress & expedite condition indices assessments must detail techniques used to calculating supply route service rates in order to determine comparisons of cost effectiveness of performance measures & capture all relevant information on work order processes by maintaining a complete record of costs on a timely basis. 15. Dispatchers moved toward consolidation & centralisation of DoD activities critical to supply service route administration traced back to the increasing cost & complexity of operational tempos with simultaneous increase in emphasis on unit efficiency in the face of competition for contracts as well as assessment of risk for mobile operations provided by information systems. Complex relationships between supply service routes produces significant economies, often captured only through collective effort. 16. Dispatchers achieve flexible tactical execution of supply service routes, characterised by an organisational structure better able to set equipment procurement, specifications & upgrade/repair standards bringing uniformity & technology standardisation to DoD processes, all to ensure individual installation unit retention of critical authority, incorporate fiscal constraints, as well as consolidate & disseminate new requirements of operational tempos. 17. Dispatchers configured supply service route rates as outcome for proper, accurate & consistent input/track of DoD costs assigned to equipment work orders, usually through upgrade/repair system interval. Work orders must document all upgrade/repair rates provided to include all direct/indirect costs, calculated for up-fitting& administration of in-house work backlogs, avoiding costly investments & still achieving critical degree of flexibility in provision of services. 18. Dispatchers observed that all supply service routes for critical equipment require upgrade/repair during their life. Since the primary mission is to maximise availability & performance, DoD must focus on administration of best practices that minimise unscheduled incidents of upgrade/repair so equipment with deficits in condition indices can return back to action in as little time as possible in order to meets the schedules/requirements of future operational tempos. 19. Dispatchers documented necessity of operating equipment on basis of good accounting practices to ensure DoD has the ability to make sensible & cost effective decisions in selecting, charging for supply route services & reaching requirements for deploy of equipment components. Identification & accumulation of total equipment components costs is imperative, including depreciation of capital assets & calculate the cost of support services, allocating overhead costs by programme to meet changing operational tempos. 20. Dispatchers see the need for selecting the right equipment at the right time as the critical foundation of best practice in meeting future operational tempos. Top-performing DoD units do not simply choose the cheapest or easiest supply service route, instead factoring in wide varieties of considerations determined by condition indices assessments that ultimately determine the useful life of equipment components. The ability for a procurement administration to make sound decisions is enhanced when accurate information is accessed in control systems for each supply route provision of parts to upgrade/repair operations. 21. Dispatchers propose some equipment upgrade/repair situations exist by which supply service route replacement practices are dictated by availability of replacement funds creating tension between DoD objectives such as minimising sustainment costs. Inadequate replacement procurement not only increases operating costs, but results in accumulation of replacement requirements which, if left unattended, can become so large that significant operational downsizing is unavoidable, affecting reliability & performance. 22. Dispatchers created a real-time information system to automatically schedule supply service route reservations for equipment components with full knowledge of their actual location. The issue for operations at small installations are the costs involved in selecting the right technologies & benefits associated with important choices to be made by DoD. Critics often address the question of whether realised benefits in increased effectiveness justify the investment in technology in the context of the limited utilisation of dynamic scheduling systems at installations. 23. Dispatcher investments in technology involves problematic assumption of risk for installations operating at the margin, with limited prospects for increased or even steady-state levels of resource allocation at DoD. It is even more challenging for small installations where command is already over-extended with current operations and challenged by limited time to consider options or alternatives for surge contingency scenarios. 24. Dispatchers established ambitious goals for improvements in DoD scheduling techniques in real time to provide options for many installations with no fixed supply route service & long reservation times. Even so, an increasing number of installations are now moving toward dynamic scheduling, allowing centralised dispatchers to insert supply service route reservation agreements when requested, increasing efficient/effective equipment upgrade/repair operations. Rises in interest from installations also parallels the changes in scheduling programmes themselves which have become increasingly simple to operate. 25. Dispatchers described focused shifts to smaller installations with demand-responsive properties. Assumptions exist that these systems are not just simply smaller versions of the large installations, instead housing distinctive forms of supply route service agreements with disparate equipment upgrade/repair requirements & operating parameters. The central question for DoD command is to decide whether or not smart technologies that relate to systems operation are viable in these installation settings. In this context, viability is determined not so much in terms of technical feasibility but in terms of overall costs & benefits. 26. Dispatchers explore potential for possible combinations of dynamic equipment upgrade/repair scheduling in the context of smaller installations with the possibility of securing the benefits of technologies at reduced costs through coordination among several smaller operations and supply service route reservations in real-world contingency scenarios. However, the intention is not to provide recommendations uniquely suited to smaller installation systems, but instead to use as prototype of system with expanding supply service routes and limited operational size. Commitment from command at DoD is lacking & budget numbers have not kept up with increases in demand. 27. Dispatchers challenged DoD to make fully informed procurement decisions on the basis of true equipment component costs since little continuity exists throughout upgrade/replace contracts on how costs are tracked and how information systems are utilised. Sometimes Upgrade/repair rates are not based on real service costs-- in many cases, the productivity rate of equipment components is not reflective of all work orders being reported so there is a gap between procurement & that issued to mobile units. Since DoD utilises different depreciation schedules & different methods at each installation, how DoD calculates the depreciation of equipment components & connected supply route services must be standardised to best reflect sustainment requirements. 28. Dispatchers administer installation only requirements to monitor equipment components systems & supply route service reservation agreements. DoD is likely to be content with information that is stored during operations and downloaded at a later date, it can probably manage with a simple equipment upgrade/repair information system with on-board monitor of supply service route performance & condition indices. Although system alerts are not real time in this case, areas for concern are marked & stand out when information is compiled, alerting command about equipment components to require attention. 29. Dispatchers have demonstrated typically high demands for real-time information. Fixed supply service route require real-time information primarily to monitor progress of equipment upgrade/repair operations designed to determine whether corrective action is needed to compensate for slips in the schedules. Information about current status of equipment components greatly enhance opportunities to schedule on the fly by inserting new supply service route reservations. Upgrade/repair schedules can be rebuilt at central stations & transit to appropriate installations. 30. Dispatchers detail requirements for frequency of reporting back to the central station-- another issue that distinguishes system effectiveness. Most installation systems are now moving toward exception reporting, whereby an equipment component only reports into the central station when it is outside pre-established on-time performance & condition indices parameters, with monitor information collected at an interval established according to operational tempos. Times for individual supply route pick-up could be pre-established & serve as the time points for exception reporting. It is essential that systems employed at installations have key internal controls to find out where and when a supply service route insertion is required. 31. Dispatchers summarise the position that equipment upgrade/repair scheduling programmes greatly enhance function of the service route reservation monitor. Levels of automation in scheduling ranges from minimal to fully automated-- from DoD entry-assisted scheduling involves building schedules for equipment components moved manually according to service route reservation cancellation/additions where required. The next level of automation, dynamic scheduling, involves information system capability to modify schedules & service routes in real time. Schedules can be built virtually automatically from rule-based technology solutions, with last-minute supply service route reservation agreements inserted in near real-time with upgrade/repair schedules adjusted as required according to key contingency scenarios. 32. Dispatchers assess Resource Costing for supply route services with considerable different properties-- it is critical for installations to assess priorities in the light of realistic expectations regarding the value/benefits to be derived from different technologies. Most equipment upgrade/repair scheduling & service route reservation agreement tracking programmes will not alone address the full range of requirements identified by demand-responsive surge operations. Scheduling programmes cannot let DoD base schedule revisions on expected locations of equipment components given past experience. Status of equipment components can now be updated by spatially coding the locations of installations calling back to the central station after transit pick-up. 33. Dispatchers report that DoD command becomes inundated with useless information, choosing to not utilise emerging useful aspects of technology solutions can offer information to achieve considerable time & cost savings. Report generation becomes a time-consuming task for DoD of sifting through piles of unsorted information to find relevant measures for supply service route reservation agreements. With over-stretched installations absorbed in day-to-day functioning of equipment upgrade/repair operations DoD is tempted to put off monitor/entry until reports are almost due or when upgrade/repair invoices must be sent out, compromising potential for operations to succeed under the increased demands of surge contingency scenarios. 34. Dispatchers charged with administration of DoD work order tasks advancing equipment upgrade/repair operations involve the once simple decisions made by forward installations to select the supply service route by which to meet upgrade/repair requirements according to a condition schedule monitor. This challenge has become increasingly more involved with the advent of modern information exchange systems that allocate cost according to basic economic principles. Forward installations continue to search for innovative techniques to have upgrade/repair requirements met along an efficient supply route to scale up to increased operational tempos. 35. Dispatchers assessed equipment upgrade/repair policy options evaluate potential for smaller, more reliable & more frequent deployments to forward installations. Future operational tempos will require integration of real-time control mechanisms, equipment valuation/track capabilities & quick response times to provide DoD with increased flexibility in building efficient supply route service based on equipment condition indices to increase how available equipment components are for operations at forward installations to include quality measures. 36. Dispatchers note processes driving equipment upgrade/repair along increasingly complex supply service routes has only recently begun to change due to advances in assessing how scheduled condition monitor parameters are determined. Core systems where equipment component base is reduced, single sourcing of supply service route providers & assignment of operational control authority by DoD are just some of the ways in which changes in the procurement strategies for supply service route transit to forward installations for upgrade/repair operations continue to move forward at rapid pace b/c technology is advancing so fast. 37. Dispatchers determine important variables contributing to equipment upgrade/repair simulations including structure of installation communications links, levels & reliability profiles of changing equipment component volumes & degree of competitive demands of changes in operational tempos all influence supply service route cost structure. Factor integration can lead to increased efficiencies in procurement strategies, but most DoD installations still apply the same methodologies used to deploy different size/types of equipment components, leveraging volumes instead of treating each supply service route as unique & independent entity. 38. Dispatchers document problems with supply service route techniques currently employed by DoD installations to establish equipment upgrade/repair simulations according to the requirements of future operational tempos because some supply service route economies are mixed, since cost of establishing a single supply route is dependent on the service levels of all other supply routes contributing to operations. Interdependence of service routes exists because of costs incurred in making a connection between disparate equipment component cache transit to forward installations. 39. Dispatchers characterise Equipment upgrade/repair programme attributes as providing basic purpose & design to validate and store supply service route information such as size, procurement date, ratings & sustainment costs. Supply route-specific notes generate work orders when calendar-based upgrade/repair schedules are in effect. Time-based, repetitive supply service route failures can usually be addressed by DoD, but non-time related failures cannot be addressed by the same strategies, since they require different solutions. 40. Dispatchers assess potential to use changed equipment condition in determination of when an operational failure is likely to happen. For example, as component of operating life progresses, requirements for upgrade/repair are bound to occur. It becomes immaterial what the reasons are for performance deficits; fact is that equipment can no longer meet the original function for DoD requirements and/or its level of performance falls. Detecting deficits in the condition of items serves as advanced warning that supply route service insertion will be requrired. If changes in performance level monitors can be detected in advance, ways & means to forecast future operational problems will have been realised. 41. Dispatchers describe impacts of urgent equipment upgrade/replace processes which can result in unpredictable performance at the expense of DoD objectives as evidenced by high downtime, supply route material costs, upgrade/repair time, deficits in operational tempo associated with the loss of function & equipment component replacement requirements. Operational Downtime affects productive/functional capability of equipment, resulting in a reduction of output, increasing operational expenses per unit performance indication episode. 42. Dispatchers control administration of operational parameters to result in an extension of the equipment component life beyond expectations & arriving at a plan for DoD to deal with changes in operational tempo with goal to define strategies in terms of controlling fiscal factors resulting from expensive sustainment operations. The bottom line is to reduce number of equipment failures by monitoring condition indices to predict problems & enable remedial actions to be taken. Even while upgrade/repair operations are usually performed by DoD at component levels, a successful strategy must take a global approach to the entire system; addressing real-time systems integration & trend evaluation of supply route service. 43. Dispatchers evaluate many factors when selecting and prioritising conditions to monitor such as the frequency schedule, determination of equipment components to be selected & what actions must be taken by DoD. To make the process simple equipment condition monitor candidates are prioritised based criticality assessments aimed at identification of components to have the greatest effect on an operation if they were to fail. Decisions based on condition-based fault diagnosis & trends predicting problems become critical for planning & control of upgrade/repair operations, reducing capital investment required for supply route service. 44. Dispatchers create systematic & responsive approach to equipment upgrade/repair simulations designed to mitigate competing sets of operational risks. Accurate, up to date information about condition enable predictions to made & acted on by DoD. With information collected at the right time, schedules can be immediately updated to react to the latest trends. Real-time condition monitoring systems deliver big savings in sustainment costs, while still ensuring that supply route services remain reliable & efficient. The dominant factor is often the organisational challenge of responding effectively to a changing situation, not technical ability to detect it in the first place. 45. Dispatchers determined that supply service routes for equipment upgrade/repair operations do not operate in isolation. Condition & performance depend on operational tempo & actions of the personnel systems that operate them. Monitoring systems that also collect/assess information in these additional areas take supply route service optimisation to another level. The operational information can be used to drive training programmes to promote more efficient use of equipment components, reducing wear & tear-- lowering costs for sustainment/operation budgets. 46. Dispatchers combine/integrate multiple approaches & principles to equipment upgrade/repair operations. DoD has demonstrated decent understanding of principles, techniques & policy in isolation, but true organisational change will only be realised when requirements for teamwork between divisions & capacity for creative assessments are implemented. Several common principles are found at the core of each monitor design. Processes must capture information to determine current state of equipment components, flagging early warnings of problems & updating results of monitoring into a central registered source of supply route verification. Decision support must allow for best course of action to be identified, based on the latest operational information, as well as implementation of strategy for inspection & sustainment. 47. Dispatchers observe condition/performance equipment components with conclusions drawn by the monitoring system, and all subsequent decisions made for supply route service must be based upon receipt of accurate information with the right properties measured from the outset. If systems are designed to collect/compare information describing operational tempos affecting performance & manner of its operation, DoD will have a much wider context within which to judge current and future condition. Monitoring system recommendations are only as strong as speed of information collection/transfer, critical properties essential to success. 48. Dispatchers noticed equipment upgrade/repair simulation factors contributing to a critical problem are not clear cut & defined within current DoD protocols responsible for supply route service insertion. It might be perfectly acceptable for different instances of the same equipment component type to perform within widely defined range provided it does so consistently. In these cases, absolute models are usually too restrictive to add value. Assuming upgrade/repair simulations have been set up correctly from the outset, the key aim of monitor design solution is to detect, categorise and report changes in operational performance. No two equipment components are set up alike & monitor systems must ensure the right parameters are set up within allowable tolerances & remain stable, critical steps forward to take by DoD. 49. Dispatchers experience equipment upgrade/repair instances when monitoring systems detect a change in the state of equipment components to require immediate intervention. DoD must be certain information signals are communicated in the form of a system alert as soon as possible, to the right recipient, using the right medium. To ensure timeliness of supply route service response & minimise the chances of additional problems, systems must detect/report operational changes as close to the occurrence as possible. At minimum, the alert message should contain equipment component identity, date/time monitor picked up change occurred with clear description of events & confidence measurement of the diagnosis. 50. Dispatchers conclude equipment upgrade/repair monitoring systems are powerful tools for DoD to implement so operations can be protected to maximise availability, reliability & performance of the Force. In short, making equipment components work harder & smarter and allows for the delivery of greater value from supply service routes in combination with both existing & new technologies to produce an integrated repair/upgrade simulation. Effectiveness of any system is rooted in strong design & this is particularly true of equipment upgrade/repair simulations. A well-implemented system can impact every part of an organisation, increasing operational uptimes, reducing sustainment costs & enhancing reputation of the unit.

Hires for New Positions in the organisation require well-defined Skills & Traits, so we will describe ways these skills could be put to use in the context of achieving positive results in meeting mission requirements. Unique & effective work styles include the ability to assimilate & integrate complex concepts towards simplifying presentation & winning people over to new point of view.

Good judgment about people & their ability to contribute to solving problems is an extremely useful skill. Additionally, continuous learning curves are brought to bear by staying up-to-date on current events in specific subject areas. New developments of interest should be disseminated to the right working groups so they will be fully prepped when the time comes for teams to reach consensus.

Personal measures of professional growth include the acquisition of new skills, knowledge & insights into how decisions are made at all levels of the organisation. These growth metrics are major factors in determining success & the ability to stretch out jobs by reaching out to learn more about subject matter areas that may not be immediately apparent.

Focusing on direct application of new concepts to the problem at hand is required & it is essential to have the ability to distinguish potentials of multiple ideas that appear to have merit. It is a skill to be able to say “no” to certain people in critical situations, creating the ability to better set priorities.

Success in new positions is often times the result of deciding what is really important about the tasks at hand. It is critical to look at each day as a new opportunity to perform at high levels & to make best efforts. Success is a direct result of setting big goals, being honest & choosing to work with the right people who are also important stakeholders in the result of projects & thrive in competitive situations.

New Positions in the organisation require appreciation for how essential the components of good reporting to superiors are for success of future operations. These qualities are critical in realising essential goals & go a long way towards establishing a positive image of the mission to be completed. Impacts of good reporting include the ability to plan actionable adjustments to future operations.

Outstanding results should be clearly communicated in order to establish long-term connections between Superiors & units in the field towards repeatable actions, the Bread & Butter of missions carried out in theatre. When good relations with superiors are long-lasting, there is increased potential for mission success.

The experience Superiors have with good reporting of mission results will affect how other stakeholders view work performed by the unit. Superiors do talk & share information about both performance & setting realistic goals. So interactions outside the purview of the unit may affect not only results of current missions, but also the type of mission the unit will likely be tasked with in the future.

It is not good practise to assume the expectations of Superiors are being satisfied, so it is always best to follow up even after tasks look like they have been completed. Then, use the Feedback to provide valuable insight into the quality & characteristics of future missions.

Operational Success is the main contributor to gain satisfaction of Superiors. Just as important as, or maybe even more important than, competing concerns in meeting future missions. If Superiors are not being recipient to field reports meeting or exceeding expectations, it is extremely unlikely that the unit will be tasked for similar missions in the future.

Superiors usually appreciate checking in, especially when some components of the task need improvement & it is possible to use the opportunity to correct deficiencies on a timely basis. In addition, information about mission design & assignments given to units participating in exercises can be used to determine future operations in the field.

In many instances, solid & thorough reporting of results in theatre to superiors may be the one thing that distinguishes unit action from competitors. Adverse reviews of performance may compromise the future position of the unit in future missions.

When reporting to superiors, it is essential not only to describe current events, but also future goals that can be set & achieved such as improved scheduling skills, new performance targets or even skills above & beyond what Superiors have expected in the past. Examples of creative & innovative prototype actions are appropriate if it reinforces patterns of mission planning & future success.

If units are tasked with new missions, it will be crucial to clearly communicate to Superiors the success realised in the field as a direct result of meeting the goal. This indicates that realistic goals have been set so future focus can be applied to fine-tuning continued pursuit goal outcomes. Select examples showcasing both skills & abilities of the unit to meet future mission requirements b/c initiative & resourcefulness have been well-demonstrated.1) Delivering Operational Results Give an example how you plan to meet challenge of changing product/service requirements process to gain weapons system product team commitment to proposal. How do you plan to organise dispatch activities & allocate/direct resources to mitigate operational risk & reach fiscal goals?

2) Bringing Innovation to Problem Solving Describe situation when you will have to find new solutions to introduce change into weapon system product process/service problems. What techniques will you use to elicit new ideas from dispatch teams & on what occasions will you introduce solutions resulting in better way of organising work loads?

3) Planning & Control Tell me about how you plan to consider existing/conflicting workloads in weapon system programmes & check progress your team has made to mitigate proposal issues. Have you designed mechanisms to change dispatch processes to meet objectives/deadlines & prioritise work load tasks designed to overcome obstacles to success of mission objectives/strategies?

4) Using Information Effectively Give an example of how you plan to organise & interpret information coming in from weapons system teams for purpose of reaching specific conclusions. Have you designed processes to quickly identify source of information & translate dispatch activities into opportunities for mission success?

5) Providing Excellent Services Describe steps you have planned to ensure weapons system requirements are met resulting in positive feedback to promote successful redirection of resources & solid interactions designed to lead stakeholders into complete satisfaction. How will you design techniques adopting new approaches to translate stakeholder complaints into trust in dispatcher processes by enlistment of new approaches critical to positive mission outcomes?

6) Attention to Detail Tell me how you plan to ensure work quality & fix mistakes made by dispatchers in providing service to weapons system teams where it is difficult to win stakeholders over to your plans/processes. How will you produce results where accuracy is checked in detail by direct inquiry to programme offices for dispatch of essential tasks designed to meet mission requirements? 7) Adapting to Change & Uncertainty Describe your plans to deal with significant changes in weapons programme requirements when team activities are in flux & run against established standards. When will fiscal pressures threaten ability of dispatchers to perform tasks on occasions when work is interrupted by events beyond your control?

8) Developing Strategy Tell me how you plan to interface with weapons system teams to identify impact of techniques leading to successful completion of difficult goals while adding value to operations. How will you plan for charting future directions dispatchers will encounter in order to implement changes in strategy that deviate from standard process design?

9) Technical Expertise Describe how your technical expertise will be brought to bear in your capacity to deal with weapons system requirements & provide evidence of success in communicating complex issues facing teams. How do you plan on presenting justification of dispatcher decisions made in the absence of complete & detailed sources of information?

10) Continuous Learning Tell me about a time when you learned something unexpected about weapons system requirements which has since proved useful in dispatch operations leading to successful mission outcomes through collective effort of your team. How will you establish new priorities/activities through dispatch team feedback after encountering difficult situations undermining future realisation of techniques designed to achieve mission success?

1. How would defence Logistics operations change if your tactics were implemented? Connecting equipment sourcing lead time schedules & operational readiness results in administration of properly functioning supply route contracts-- critical components for ensuring operational security in the defence sector. Advances in dispatch logistics not only improve the quality of security provided, but also determine the success or failure of any supply route contract quote schedule requests for equipment parts deployment work orders. New dispatch initiatives will reduce lead times by allowing for streamlined & simplified procurement of items on contracts-- 1) allows ability to get increased work order schedule info receipt from suppliers, 2) enables leverage of influence in interactions w/ suppliers & 3) empowers strategic targeting of key items to ensure their availability from suppliers.2. Assess the current situation. For Fleet deployment resulting from upgrades & replacement of equipment components, we have defined a schedule design process & set of dispatch procedures that implement these tactics. The goal of route tracker application design is to break down sourcing ticket problems into sub-problems with schedules composed of procedural contract quote information. During the design process, decisions must be made as to which dispatch sequence to solve next & find solutions achieved by route tracking pattern matching dispatch records of past events stored in the application.3. What technologies currently exist & what is the Gap? Current applications typically start by developing an equipment upgrade record system to store results. However, few systems are designed to implement requirements that would automate some aspects of the decision-making processes. The vast majority of existing applications still focus on work orders designed for individual installation requests for supply route service with little or no functionality to support long-term renewal quote schedules for upgrade/replace decisions made across groups of installations.4. Why are your Tactics novel/better? The main functionality provided by Plug & Play Common Work Order generation in applications is the tracking of equipment part supply valuation information & maintenance/upgrade quote scheduling using sourcing tickets. The application supports a range of Fleet upgrade specs trajectory sampling dispatch options & capability to link equipment upgrade/replace quote scheduling systems. Links of schedule increase/decrease work are blocked by injecting randomisation to process for work order choice to drop during congestion periods. Spatial traffic schedule domain transit by trajectory samples, i.e., paths taken by random subset of work orders means specific cache entries are detailed. Applications utilising Plug & Play Common Work Orders are not currently widely used at installations mainly due to the extensive nature of surge contingency scenario logistics start-ups by command & requirements for specialised dispatcher expertise to set up and customise the schedule applications at installation5. What Logistics problem are you solving? Systematic advances in the surge contingency scenario logistics have been detailed by dispatchers at installations utilising equipment Deployment route infrastructure spare part supply valuation & tracking systems. Plug & Play Common work order solutions are generally used to store & evaluate equipment upgrade specs, supporting operational & strategic decision-making processes for contract procurement quote sample populations to integrate & interpret of upgrade/repair quote schedule applications at installations w/ variable levels of maturity & similarity.6. Describe your scientific approach. This product demonstration report is based on a tactical evaluation of expert & novice dispatchers in a controlled & competitive set-up to simulate sourcing ticket problem space. Solutions were generated by both groups providing real-time control for adjustments to force structure lists for surge contingency scenarios. Our intention is to present behavioural properties of dispatchers engaged in modifications of the route tracker application to obtain detailed pictures of dispatcher processes in issuing sourcing tickets. While performance was an important part of tactic evaluation, our emphasis in this product demonstration report is focused on examination of process behaviour during dispatch activity.7. How do your tactics address the technological need? The Upgrade Quote schedule systems component provides access to equipment supply tracking & valuation map pattern details of the application designed to provide links between equipment identification tags & spatial features of the sourcing ticket fields. Dispatchers can navigate through sample trajectory populations using the application to create pattern maps based on selected valuation/tracking attributes such as equipment condition index ratings.8. How are your tactics different than today’s solutions? Although some existing equipment supply systems support interfacing with Upgrade/Repair Quote systems, very few applications have been designed to support integration w/ both material & fiscal components of service route architecture. Advanced quote scheduling decisions must be based on availability of accurate up-to-date fiscal requirements & requirements to link supply valuation & tracking identification tags to sourcing ticket fields. Embedding requirements in system design of the application is a critical step towards supporting integrated long-term support at installations.9. What technological challenges will you face & how do you propose to overcome them? Selecting & implementing equipment supply valuation & tracking applications that best suit requirements of each installation is a challenging endeavour with important short & long term issues to be addressed. Short-term implications are mainly fiscal commitments, while long-term implications involve the requirements for upgrade/replace quote schedules, & return on temporal aspects of installation investments in common case route trajectory sample tracking. Several directions for future investigation & inquiry can be identified. Of particular interest is the issue of tools to facilitate utilisation of Plug & Play Common Work Orders for long-term renewal logistics supporting supply route architecture. Most existing systems focus almost exclusively on supporting day-to-day activities & few existing systems even begin to offer robust, implemented support for long-term upgrade/repair shared tracking item deployment at multiple installations due to expanding requirements of surge contingency scenarios for mobile operations.10. How do your tactics advance the state of the art in defence logistics? In conclusion, the results from this Fleet Upgrade/Replacement Specs report indicate that sourcing ticket documentation did support dispatchers in evaluation of supply route conference call connections. It was found to assist in the creation of real-time instinct representations of dispatchers for solving sourcing ticket problems, enhancing performance. Techniques were designed to be used in reminder sets within dispatcher problem spaces to assist in operational utilisation & solution, with sourcing ticket notation providing for off-loading from the application. Dispatchers had conference call episodes transcribed & tactic evaluation has highlighted the potential for addressing niche markets in defence sectors Route Tracker applications Supply commanders w/ key operational support for equipment Upgrade/Replacement Quote Operations. As a guide to the evaluation of processes using this approach, we have found the use of behavioural dispatcher tactic evaluation to be particularly useful. It allows command to extract, record & evaluate the full potential of the modernised processes embedded in the application. We have created the potential for revealing operational parts supply line details that might otherwise go unnoticed by decision-makers in charge of designing new applications to automate & speed-up Procurement.